Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Former presidential candidate and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is no fan of the Federal Reserve. In fact, he wants it abolished. The Federal Reserve, according to Paul, is the root of inflationary troubles and retarded economic growth, thanks to its unregulated monetary policies. It “creates new balances out of thin air” and buys up Treasury bills from banks, increasing the money supply and raising prices for consumers.
But Paul realizes that getting rid of the nation’s central bank isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, so at the very least the federal government should fully audit the Fed’s books—something that doesn’t take place currently. “According to current federal law, the Fed’s agreements with foreign governments and central banks—and, more important, its open market and monetary policy operations—are exempt from an audit,” says Paul. To change this, the conservative lawmaker has sponsored legislation that will allow the U.S. Comptroller General, head of the Government Accountability Office, to fully examine the Fed’s financial records. The bill currently has 165 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. A companion bill in the Senate, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009, has been introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Fed Up (by Ron Paul, Forbes)
Ron Paul is 'Fed Up' (by Stephen Webster, Raw Story)
H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (GovTrack.us)
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